Protector guide for dressing shoes



Jan. 12, 1937- J. M. MAYER 2,067,855

PROTECTOR GUIDE FOR DRESSING SHOES Filed Sept. 26, 1934 3-II/////l/II////,

INVENTOR F/ 5.5

JOHNMMAER markation between the two colors.

preferably made of celluloid, bakelite, or similar Patented Jan. 12,1937 UNITED STATES PATENTF OFFICE 2,067,855 PROTECTOR. GUIDE FORDRESSING SHOES John M. Mayer, Johnsonburg, Pa, Application September26,1.934, Serial No. 745,516

6 Claims. (01. 36-72) dressing or polishing of such shoes to preventintermixture of colors and to assure .and make easily possible polishedshoes where there is no smearing of one color over on the other andwhere one color stands out in sharp, clean contrast to the other, evenalong the line of de- My shield is cellulosic or phenolic condensationproduct, but may be made of other stiif materials.

For a quick understanding of illustrative em bodiments of my invention,reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a shield adapted to completely encircle ashoe, its inner edge being designed tofit the curvature of the shoebetween the sole and upper thereof;

Figure 2 is a detail view taken on line 2-4 of Figure 1, indicating howthe fastening works which holds together the two sides or wings of theshield;

' line 3-3 of Figure l;

and gripping means holding it in Figure 4 shows another embodiment ofthe shield shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 .shows a modification of the embodiment shown in Figure 4; 1 v

Figure 6 shows in perspective a shoe with a shield of still material ofthe type shown in Figure 1 fastened therearound and showing a shield,having the contour of the edge between the two colors on the upper,drawn thereover and anchored'between the shoe and the shield of stiffmaterial;

Figure 7 is a detail view in cross-sectiomtaken on line of Fig. 6,showing the shield, which passes over the upper, anchored against thesole by the stiff shield;

Figure 8 is a detail view in section taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7,showing the flexible shield place on the toe of the shoe.

Referring more indetail to the drawing in the several figures of whichlike numerals denote similar parts, the two wings of the stiff shield orguard shown in Figure 1 are pivotally connected at point I.Elongated'slot 2 in one wing thereof Figure 3 is an enlarged detail viewtaken along permits lateral adjustment of one wing with respect to theother and the tension spring} acts 3 to maintain the inner edge of theshield in firm, tight engagement with the shoe between the sole andupper thereof, the pivot l sliding in the slot 5 2 inresponse to theforce of spring 3. .There is an overlapping of the shoe encircling edgeby the lips 4' and 5 at the back and front of the shoe respectively.This is toassure that there will be no gap in the shoe-encircling edgeof the shield 10 or guard even though the pivot I, acting against spring3, is at the upper end ofslot 2, and even though the fastening .6 at thefront of the stifl shield is fastenedin its widest adjustment. The

lip 5 on the upper wingof the guard or stiff shield passes above thecoacting lip 5 of the lower wing but the. arm of the fastening 6 passesbelow the coacting body portion of the lowerwing; hence the upturned endof the arm of the fastening is securely held in the desired slotthereof, due to the stifiness of the shield itself. The shield, whenapplied to a shoe, as can be seen from the drawing, is in the form of aband of material extending around the shoe and having'an inner openingof contour to conform to the curvature around the edge of each shoebetween the-sole and upper thereof. l

While it is preferred that a shield be made up particularly for eachstyle and size of shoe, and

be enclosed with the shoes at the time of sale to the customer, yet itis not absolutely necessary for a separate design and size of shield tobe made up foreach style and size of shoe. The sharp inner edge of thestiff shield or guard, as illustrated in Figure 3, need not be pressedin as far as possible in the depression between the sole and upper ofthe shoe to effectively prevent the colors from getting intermixed. IHence it is possible to use one design of guard on several. styles ofshoes which do not diifer too greatly from one another. 40

Also the automatic adjustment at the rear of the stiff shield or guardand the adjustable f'astening at its front make a single shield furtheradaptable for use on a wider range of varying styles and sizes of shoes.

In the dressing or polishing of two-tone shoes, for example shoes havingblack and white uppers or brown and white uppers, I provide shieldspreferably of stiff cloth or canvas or other fairly.

flexible material, cut to the pattern of the mar- 50 ginal line betweenthe two colors, as shown in Figure 6. The shoe shownis of thewing-tipped style. The toe and heel portion are usually theheavier-color, for example black, and the rest of the upper is usuallythe lighter color, for exam ple white. The heavy colored portions areusually sewed on top of the lighter colored portions, with the resultthat there is a rise in the surface along the line of demarkationbetween the two colors. The greater difficulty is usually encountered incleaning and whitening the shoe right up to the black without smearingthe black, it being less difficult to blacken the shoe satisfactorilyalong the edge of the white without smearing the white. (This isundoubtedly partly because the black portion is raised above the white.)Accordingly I show the flexible shield 8 in the drawing covering aportion of the toe or heavy colored portion ID of the shoe along theedge of the white or lighter colored portion l I. The extended ends ofthe flexible shield are anchored between the stiff shield or guard andthe shoe. Likewise with the shield shown at the rear of the shoe; itcovers the edge of the black or heavy colored portion along the whiteand its extended ends are anchored between the stiff shield and theshoe, holding the same tight. The rear shield, which is continuous fromone side to the other of the shoe, hooks over the top of the back byhooks which may take the form of a continuous turned down piece ofstiffmaterial anchored in the flexible shield, as can be seen in Figure6.

Both the back and toe shields preferably have tiny ,brads or hooks alongtheir edges adjacent the lighter color of the upper, such as brads 9,illustrated in connection with the toe portion, which are adapted toabut the edge of the overlapping material and thereby make it easier toadjust and keep in place said flexible shields.

Of course, flexible shields to cover an edge of the white along theblack can readily be supplied, if desired, and are contemplated withinthe scope of this invention. For example the toe shield shown in thedrawing could readily have the contour of its front edge styled so thatwhen the shield is slipped back on the white portion, the front edge ofthe shield will fit against the edge of the overlapping piece of blackmaterial.

In place of being held firmly in the desired position on the upper bythe stiff shield or guard, as shown in the drawing, the toe and heelshields may be fastened by joining the ends beneath the sole of theshoe, for example by a buckle or an elastic or. rubber connection.

Figure 4 shows, as a modification of Figure 1, a more simple stiffshield or guard, having no pivots, fastenings or moving parts. Itconsists of a single solid piece which may be made by a simple stampingoperation-or by a single casting operation. The guard or stiff shield,in addition to having a curvature in the plane of the paper as shown(this is, of the shoe-contacting edges thereof), of course also has aheight-wise curvature to correspond with the height-wise curvature ofthe line of union between the sole and upper of the shoe for which it isto serve as a protector. This height-wise curvature of the line ofdemarcation between the sole and upper of the shoe, in passing from thetoe of the shoe up along the instep to the heel thereof, and also thesimilar and corresponding height-wise curvature of the guard which fitstherein, are illustrated in the perspective view of the shoe and shieldpresented in Figure 6. Being made of sheet celluloid, or some suchmaterial, the shield can readily be bent a substantial amount toaccommodate variations in height-wise curvature.

Figure 5 shows a modified form of the stiff shield or guard shown inFigure 4 and possesses all the same curvatures but in four segments.

The letters a, b, c and at, both on Figures 5 and 4, show the respectiveportion of the shoe which each curvature of the guard shown in Figure 5is adapted to fit.

In place of being divided into four segmental curves, such a stiffshield or guard as shown in Figure 5 may have only three or may havefive or six or more segmental curves, as desired. In guards of suchtype, there is preferably stamped along each segmental curve adesignation which will show at a glance which curve of the shoe it isadapted to fit. Guards of this type and of the type shown. in Figure 4,as well as the type shown in Figure 1, can also be conveniently includedwith the shoes to the customer, and thus the practical problem ofgetting to the customer the most suitable shield or guard can beconveniently solved.

A guard of the type shown in Figure 5 can readily be made to fit arather wide range of styles, thus making it possible for a purchaser toselect a workable guard from a group of general styles without the guardbeing designed solely for that type of shoe. I

Much of the sales resistance heretofore encountered in selling whiteshoes, having black or natural leather colored sole edges, for example,and in selling two-tone shoes has been due to the difficulty which thecustomer knew he would have in keeping such shoes looking clean, new andwell-kept. It has been a painstaking and almost nerve-racking job to geta pair of shoes, having two colors, polished or dressedso that they lookclean and neat and like new. Almost invariably the white or light partof the shoe is not sufiiciently cleaned adjacent the darker color; alsothere is usually not enough polish or dressing applied adjacent to thedarker color, nor is it sufficiently shined or smoothed out. As a resultof this there is usually a gradual fading out of the lighter color as itapproaches the darker color, and a resultant smeary appearance. Whileeveryone with any normal sense of style and neatness would like to havehis shoes cleaned and polished so that there would be a sharp, cleanline of demarkation between two colors, either on the upper itself orbetween the sole and upper, as the case may be, yet because of the lackof facilities heretofore provided for such purpose, such persons wereforced to forego such desire. Often these circumstances have persuadedthem to forego their desire to wear white shoes (with black or leathercolored .sole edges) or sport shoes. .The tediousness of the task andtime required to keep such shoes looking well was prohibitive in manyinstances. Other persons, whose desire to wear white or two-tone shoesoutweighed their insistance on neatness, have worn such shoes at asacrifice of appearance and neatness.

My invention provides means for quickly and easily cleaning and dressingsuch shoes, without tediousness or meticulousness. A sharp line ofdemarkation can be made between colors, and each color can be uniformlycleaned and polished right up to the very border line of the other. Myshields, in their various forms, i. e. the stiff shields or guardsand/or the flexible shields, can be applied in a moment's time and asquickly removed when the polishing operation is completed. My guard andshield are adapted to be made in compact form and of a cheap and durablematerial.

I further contemplate that my guard and/or flexible shield, particularlywhen supplied by the manufacturer to the customer with each new pair ofshoes of the type hrein concerned, shall also serve as a medium foradvertising.

Various modifications of my invention will become readily apparent toothers from this specification and the appended drawing. All suchmodifications are herein contemplated as part of this invention andwithin the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a guard for use in dressing shoescomprising a solid approximately fiat material having edges thereofsubstantially inflexibly' curved to fit the curves around the peripheryof a particular size and style of shoe in the depression or line ofdemarkation between the sole and upper thereof.

2. As an article of manufacture, a guard for use in dressing shoescomprising a solid piece of stiff material having its periphery made upof a plurality of segmental curves, each segmental curve correspondingsubstantially to a segment of the curvature around the edge of a shoebetween, the sole and upper thereof, said plurality of segmental curvesincluding substantially every said curvature around the edge of aparticular size and style of shoe and each of the said segmental curvesof said solid piece of stiff material being located in substantiallyfixed relation to other curves thereof.

3. As an article of manufacture, a guard for tially the entire curvaturebetween the sole and upper along substantially the whole left sidethereof. i

4. As an article of manufacture, a guard for use in dressing shoescomprising a solid, thin, approximately fiat, elongated piece of stiffmaterial having both side edges thereof curved, one edge curved so as tofit the curvature between the sole and upper of a shoe alongsubstantially the whole right side thereof, and the other peripheraledge being curved so as to fit the curvature between the sole and upperalong substan tially the whole left side thereof.

5, As an article of manufacture, a guard for use in dressing shoes andwhich comprises a piece of relatively stiff material being substantiallypoly-sided, each side edge being shaped to correspond substantially witha portion of the curvature around the edge of a shoe between the soleand heel and the upper thereof, each of said shaped edges of said guardbeing relatively stiff and located in substantially fixed relation tothe edges thereof.

6. As an article of manufacture, a guard for use in dressing shoes andwhich comprises a piece of relatively stiff material having four sides,one side edge being shaped to correspond substantially with the curve ofthe in-step portions of the shoe between the sole and upper thereof,another edge similarly corresponding with portions at the heel of theshoe and the other edges substantially corresponding,respectively, tothe opposite side portions between the sole and upper at the vamp andtoe of the'shoe, each of said shaped edges of said guard beingrelatively stiff and located in substantially fixed relation to theedges thereof.

JOHN M. MAYER.

